Journal of Arabic Language & Literature

Political Media Discourse of Al-Alam TV Channel: Its Elements and Semantic Techniques in Light of Van Dijk’s Ideological Square (January–November 2024)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Ghader Pariz 1
Majid Saleh Beyk 1
Morteza Nemati Machiani 2

1 Associate Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

2 Ph.D. Candidate in Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/jall.2026.98612.1655
Abstract
The political media discourse of the Al-Alam news network is a form of media discourse characterized by diverse semantic and ideological strategies, particularly in light of Teun van Dijk’s socio-cognitive theory, one of the prominent approaches in critical discourse analysis. From this perspective, media discourse is not limited to the transmission of information and events; rather, as a communicative practice, it plays a role in directing audience attention, shaping patterns of reception and public perception, and preparing audiences to accept the ideologies promoted by the media outlet. Media texts are highly complex, incorporating explicit and implicit messages through precise linguistic mechanisms. Accordingly, this study analyzes the discourse of Al-Alam based on van Dijk’s ‘Ideological Square’ model, focusing on the role of linguistic techniques in meaning construction and the representation of ‘Self’ and ‘Other’. The study is based on the premise that media discourse is not neutral but an ideological practice founded on four strategies: emphasizing the positive aspects of the Self, emphasizing and exaggerating the negative aspects of the Other, mitigating the negative aspects of the Self, and mitigating the positive aspects of the Other. Adopting a descriptive-analytical approach, the study examines a purposive sample of the network’s news coverage from January to November 2024. The findings indicate that Al-Alam employs various linguistic techniques, including nominal sentences, devices of emphasis and negation, fronting and postponement, figurative language, and the present tense, to construct ideologically charged discourse and reinforce the ‘Us/Them’ dichotomy. The findings further demonstrate that the network’s news discourse reproduces political reality within a directed interpretive framework, using language not merely as a means of informing but also as a tool of persuasion and influence.

Keywords

Media Discourse
Al-Alam
Semantic Techniques
Van Dijk
Ideological Square
Subjects
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